San Francisco State University (SFSU) and the University of California at Davis have developed a cooperative graduate program for underrepresented minorities. This program provides a supportive environment in which minorities first earn a master's degree in either biology or chemistry at SFSU and then a Ph.D. in either chemistry, biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, microbiology, neurobiology, animal behavior or genetics at UC Davis. The goals of the program are to increase the academic competitiveness of underrepresented minority students, and to provide these students with enhanced access to doctoral training by facilitating their transition from a master's degree program to a Ph.D. program. The specific objective of this program are to increase the number of minorities that pursue biomedical research careers. Features of the program include: 1) full admission to a master's degree program and provisional admission to a matching Ph.D. program; 2) internship in a laboratory at UC Davis during the summer prior to beginning their master's degree level work at SFSU; 3) research training while investigating a research problem for the master's degree under close and personal supervision of a SFSU mentor; 4) continued interaction, while at SFSU with the UC Davis faculty mentor and participation in activities in this mentor's laboratory; 5) formal admission to a Ph.D program at UC Davis after completion of master's degree at SFSU; 6) continued interaction with SFSU faculty mentor while studying at UC Davis; and 7) assistance from both SFSU and UC Davis mentors in obtaining postdoctoral and faculty positions. This program is the first of its type between a California State University system university and a UC system university. The major objective of this proposal is to provide the missing component, i.e., financial support to provide minority students with stipends and tuition waivers. Another objective is to expand this innovative program between SFSU and UC Davis to other UC campuses and Stanford University.